Friday, September 18, 2009

Come one, come all!! We're having a 2-day event in San Mateo at Aanraku Studio in San Mateo, CA to benefit the Beads of Courage program!

SGB Norcal members, hospital staff, children undergoing treatment, and their parents have all been invited to attend this big two day hot glass fest, and yours truly will be there with didymiums, Plays With Fire baseball cap, tools, and a helping hand.

Tickets are $30 per person for a delicious Italian dinner catered by Bucca di Beppo, complete with desert and wine!There will also be a live auction of beautiful handmade jewelry during dinner, and an event closing glass bead demo by Sharon Peters to finish off the evening!

From 880 South:· Take the Hwy 92 E/Jackson St. exit, to the San Mateo Bridge; Cross the bridge· Merge onto US-101 North toward San Francisco· Take the E. 3rd Ave exit, and go West. Go under the overpass and loop around onto 3rd Avenue.· Go straight, cross a couple intersections, and turn RIGHT on Delaware.· Turn LEFT on 1st Ave.· To get to the studio: Just before the railroad tracks, turn RIGHT on S. Railroad Avenue. If you cross the tracks, you’ve missed it.

From US-101 North: aim for San Mateo, and :· Take the 3rd Ave exit, and go West. Go under the overpass and loop around onto 3rd Avenue.· Go straight, cross a couple intersections, and turn RIGHT on Delaware.· Turn LEFT on 1st Ave.· To get to the studio: Just before the railroad tracks, turn RIGHT on S. Railroad Avenue. If you cross the tracks, you’ve missed it.

PARKING:You probably won’t find a spot in front of the studio.Here are the two closest parking garages, both 1 block away, and cheap (bring quarters!)

1) Cross the tracks. Enter the Public Parking garage on the LEFT. You’ll have to walk a block down Railroad to reach the studio. (OR)

2) Cross the tracks. Turn RIGHT into the Cal Train station, follow the driveway and enter the underground parking garage at the end of the drive. Take the stairs at the end of the garage (closest to 1st Ave). You’ll have to walk a block down Railroad to reach the studio.

Monday, September 14, 2009

I got back from Portland almost a week ago, and now that I'm unpacked and a routine medical procedure is behind me, I can get back to work in the wet lab. And that's where I spent last evening and this morning - trying to meet a challenge given to me by the wonderful and talented Kimberly Affleck while I was in Washington. Kimberly commissioned me to make a vessel for her. She's going to embellish it with some of her own personal found objects as well as her beads. While she was auditioning color combos for this piece, she put a few together that didn't work for her. When she exclaimed, "Ewww, those colors are bad!", I told her that there are no bad colors and that I could make just about any colors go together. I don't know what on earth I was thinking! I had her pull together some colors that she thought would look dreadful together so that I could try to prove my point. Yesterday I decided that I was ready to face the music.

Here are the colors that I have to use.

Last evening I started making small felted objects that I would use to embellish the vessel. I also pulled out a few balls of yarn that I thought I would incorporate into it.

When I went to bed, I started to visualize what the body of the vessel might look like. I decided to make the vessel predominantly green and yellow, then I drifted off to sleep. This morning when I went out to the wet lab, I changed my mind about the vessel color and also decided to ditch the yarn. Here's where I am in the project right now.

I'll wait until this evening to felt it, then tomorrow I will attach the embellishments. This certainly isn't a color combo that I would have chosen to work with - I'm hoping that when it's dry and has shrunken it doesn't look too garish. But hey - Kimberly picked these colors, so she's stuck with them! :-)

The colors that she picked for her "serious" vessel are very rich and I'm really looking forward to working with them. I should be bringing you pix of that WIP in the next few days.

Here's Kimberly yucking it up at the Mexican restaurant the Friday night of Labor Day weekend. She and I were drinking Cadillac Margaritas - yowza! Vickie Branch is also in the picture - Vickie and her daughter Marion Ogle hosted the Labor Day weekend "knowledge exchange" event at their fabulous shop/studio M & D Designs in Chinook, WA.

Hmmmm... I just noticed the colors in these pictures of Kimberly. They look vaguely familiar... Perhaps I should name this vessel Cadillac Sunset.

And now I'm off to a meeting. Have yourselves a happy and creative day!

Color Inspiration!

The Best Little Bead Box

About Me

I love to "make stuff" - glass beads, jewelry, fiber art, whatever catches my fancy.
I am a full time artisan, having left the world of software development after a long successful career.
I love nature... color... texture... music... gourmet food... and Jack Russell Terriers.